Julie Bishop says the Indo-Pacific is anxious in the absence of a clear signal from Donald Trump’s administration.
Photograph: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, has implored the United States to become more engaged in the Indo-Pacific and explicitly referred to the lack of democracy in China, saying history showed “democracy and democratic institutions are essential for nations if they are to reach their economic potential”.

In a strongly worded speech delivered in Singapore, Bishop said the US remained the pre-eminent global strategic power in Asia, despite China’s extraordinary economic and strategic rise, and continued to be the “indispensable strategic power in the Indo-Pacific”.

Bishop noted China’s provocative behaviour in the South China Sea was one of the challenging manifestations of emerging geopolitical competition in the region and she said the region was anxious in the absence of a clear signal from the Trump administration.

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She noted many regional nations “are in a strategic holding pattern and waiting to see whether the United States and its security allies and partners can continue to play the robust and constructive role that they have for many decades in preserving the peace”.

Bishop said she had recently met senior Trump administration officials, including the US vice president, Mike Pence, and the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, to consider “constructive ways for the United States to become even more engaged in the Indo-Pacific”.

“If stability and prosperity are to continue, the United States must play an even greater role as the indispensable strategic power in the Indo-Pacific,” Bishop said. “The United States is uniquely placed to do so. It is the pre-eminent global strategic power in Asia and the world by some margin. It is a country which does not have territorial disputes with other countries in the region.”

Bishop said the US, which relied on regional countries to host its military assets, had an obligation to the region that went beyond the pursuit of its own interests.

She said the US “is obliged to use its power and influence to provide public security goods to the region”.

“This provides reassurance to many countries closely observing how larger countries will seek to wield their power and influence in the region.”

She said the democratic and liberal rules-based order exemplified in the American political system reflected what Australia sought to “preserve and defend” in the region.

Bishop issued a pointed warning that the importance “of liberal values and institutions should not be underestimated or ignored”.

“While non-democracies such as China can thrive when participating in the present system, an essential pillar of our preferred order is democratic community,” the foreign affairs minister said.

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She said the habits conferred by democratic conventions, such as negotiation and compromise, “are essential to powerful countries resolving their disagreements according to international law and rules”.

Bishop explicitly said China might not reach its full economic potential if it ultimately failed to transition to democracy.

“History also shows democracy and democratic institutions are essential for nations if they are to reach their economic potential.”

Democratic institutions such as the rule of law, civilian control of the military, an independent judiciary, private property rights and limits on the role of the state “remain the prerequisites for stable and prosperous societies, as they are for the creation of a vibrant and innovative private sector”, Bishop said.

While it was appropriate for individual countries to find their own pathway to political reform, “history shows that embrace of liberal democratic institutions is the most successful foundation for nations seeking economic prosperity and social stability”.

The Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, is due to visit Australia shortly, and Pence is expected to tour the region, including Australia, next month.